For-profit runs: working for charity

They attract hundreds to thousands of participants in clean, white clothes and result in a mess of color, mud and rushes of adrenaline.

For-profit runs are popular in West Texas and across the nation - some donate a percentage to local charities, some don't. But how much is donated and how that is decided is not clear.

The Color Run

The Color Run in March was one of the larger events of 2013.

"The original cap for the event was 10,000, but the event sold out quickly, so the race director expanded it to 13,000, which is about how may people attended," wrote Jessica Nixon, spokesperson for the Color Run, in an email to the Avalanche-Journal.

Nixon declined to reveal how much profit was made from the run, but did say $10,000 was donated to the Impact Clinic, sponsored by the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

The event charges anywhere between $35 to $50 per person for registration. By A-J calculations, the event brought in between $455,000 and $650,000 from participants.

Steven Cowles, third-year medical student and then student leadership team member for the Impact Clinic, said clinic and TTUHSC officials were thankful to be considered for the charitable partner.

"We were extremely grateful that they gave us $10,000 helping out the clinic immensely with pharmacy supplies," Cowles said. "It was generous and helpful and nice."

When approaching Color Run officials to become a charitable partner, they were asked to provide a certain number of volunteers, Cowles said. He didn't recall how many.

"We provided some volunteers, they wrote a check," he said. "They brought employees that ran the whole show. We provided some extra manpower for them."

Cowles said some were disappointed at the donated amount.

"Others weren't satisfied with the amount of money they gave to us as a charity," Cowles said. "We didn't sell out the Color Run. We were not the driving force behind it. Charities were behind the case to let people go to a run. The Color Run would have sold out with or without us."

By the end of 2013, the Color Run will donate at least $1 million to charity, Nixon wrote.

Other events

The Color Run has had the largest attendance of the for-profit runs, but it's not the only one to come to Lubbock.

Tricia Perez, event coordinator for the West Texas Zombie Run, said a total of 412 people were registered to participate in the event on Saturday, Sept. 14. Zombie Run officials were not expecting to make profit off of this year's event, but were expected to break even, she said.

Regardless of the amount raised, Perez said it's important for the coordinators to donate a portion to the American Cancer Society.

Nickie Stewart was one of the participants in the West Texas Zombie Run. Stewart said she enjoys participating in such events in part, because of the charities they benefit.

Stewart said she and her family and friends have participated in events such as the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure and others. They did not participate in the Color Run earlier this year because they missed registration.

"If it's for a charity, I'll pay as much as they ask," she said.

Other for-profit runs such as the upcoming Electric Zombie Run on Oct. 27, don't have charitable partners. Stewart said this could affect her participation and donation to the event.

Asked if she'd still participate without the charity benefactor, Stewart replied, "maybe" and cited the charities as a reason for her donations.

Colleen O'Neal, Department of Public Safety team participant in this past weekend's zombie run, said the charities are also a reason DPS tries to be involved in such events.

Several people from O'Neal's work have been impacted by cancer and by services from the American Cancer Society.

Without the charity benefactor, O'Neal said the organization might still be involved, but the meaning of the involvement wouldn't be the same.

ellysa.gonzalez@lubbockonline.com

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